KUALA LUMPUR: Five passengers and the driver died and three others were seriously injured when their double-decker bus hit the road divider and landed on its side in a ditch at Km443 of the North-South Expressway yesterday.
The bus was heading for Kuala Lumpur when the accident occurred at 5am about 5km after the Bukit Beruntung exit. An unidentified injured woman being sent to hospital.
Thedriver is believed to have lost control before the bus crashed.
One of the dead victims, C. Magenthiran, 26, from Taman Sri Indah, Kelang, was found on the opposite side of the highway. He is believed to have been thrown out of the bus.
The other victims were identified as Muhamad Ismail, 27, from Kampung Lubuk Batu, Jitra, Kedah; Mohamad Fauzi Awang, 44, from Kampung Kebangsaan Siam, Alor Star, Md Zaher Mohamad, 33, from Kampung Pulau Ketam, Jitra, and Mohd Yusril Zakaria, 27, from Kampung Sungai Deraka, Kota Kuala Muda, Kedah.
At the time of the accident, Zulkhibri, 35, was asleep and the bus was driven by the co-driver.
The 33-year-old co-driver, who was injured, has been arrested and is under guard at the Sungai Buloh hospital.
Also injured were passengers Sulinda Mat Yassin, 31, who is seven months pregnant, and an unidentified woman.
The executive coach of AB Express was on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Kangar with 43 passengers.
Witnesses said less than two hours before the accident, the bus had stopped for a break in Simpang Pulai, Perak.
That was when the co-driver took over from Zulkhibri.
P. Ghhaneshh, 45, who was driving his boss from Ipoh to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, told police he saw the accident happen.
He said he was driving behind the bus from Tanjung Malim when he noticed it starting to swerve dangerously in front of him.
"It was moving to the left and to the right, not sticking to its lane.
"I suspected something was wrong and tried to get the attention of the driver by flashing my high beam and honking. But the bus still crashed into the divider," he said.
Federal traffic police chief Datuk Abd Aziz Yusof said initial investigations revealed that the co-driver had six summonses for speeding and five warrants of arrest while Zulkhibri had eight outstanding summonses for speeding.
Abd Aziz confirmed the co-driver had been arrested and was being investigated for causing death by driving recklessly.
He added it is the worse road accident this year.
Fire and Rescue Department chief operation Assistant Superintendent Zahinor Hamzah said the heads of two of the victims were severed.
The accident caused a 5km-long congestion from the Bukit Beruntung exit.
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Six people killed in highway bus crash
Posted by : Azrul on
Monday, April 13, 2009
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